Match-box.



No. 729,818. PATBNTED JUNE 2, 1903.

F. A. ,WATTENBBRG.

MATCH 30x.

APPLIOATION RILED MAB. 7, 1903.

110 MODEL.

UNHTED STATES" Patented June 2, 1903.

FERDINAND A. WAT'IENBERG, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MATCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Nai /29,818, dated June 2, 1903.

Application filed March 7, 1903.

the following is a specification.

My invention is directed particularly to an improvement upon an invention disclosed in a prior application filed by me in the United States Patent Office on the 17th day of March, 1902, and bearing Serial No. 98,695.

In the invention disclosed in the abovenamed application I have described and claimed asameans for igniting safety-matches a cup or casing filled with material for effecting such a result. I have also described and claimed a match box having a depressed groove in combination with a cup or casing filled with such material.

The essential feature of the present improvement lies in doing away entirely with the cup or casing and constructing the igniting material in a mass in the nature of a solid bar, rod, or cake, and then in combining the same with a match-box having a groove or depression for receiving the bar, rod, or cake of snflicient width to admit the head of the match and of sufficient depth toprevent the surface of the material from coming into contact with the fingers or clothing of the user.

My improvement will be fully understood by referring to the accompanying drawings,

in whiclv- Figure 1 represents a rectangular-shaped bar constructed of the proper material for igniting safety-matches, and Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a pocket match-box illustrating my invention.

I am aware that it is old in the art to provide a match-box with an igniting-surface for safety-matches, in which the same is composed of a sheet of paper having a'coating of material for igniting safety-matches pasted or paintedthereon, such a device being disclosed in United States Patent No..120,892, granted November 14:, 1871, to L. O. Myers, and I am also aware that it is broadly old in the art to construct a bar or block of igniting material for safety-matches composed of phosphorus and any suitable binding agent and to use Serial No. 146.777. (No model.)

said bar or block in connection with a table, counter, orwall match -box in which there is necessarily a large exposed surface of the material. Such matchboxes, however, are not handled frequently by the users, and consequently the material which constitutes the striking-surface and is known to be very poisonous and dangerous to handle does not come into contact with the hands or clothing 1 of the user.

My presen-t improvement is directed especially to pocket'match-boxes, which are carried op the person of the user and always 1nanipulated or handled during the striking of a match, so that unless the surface of the material be held ina depressed position and in such a way as to keep it out of contact with the fingers of the user there is danger of transmitting the poisonous material to the fingers and from the fingers to the eyes, which is known who very dangerous.

My present invention is specifically an improvement upon the invention disclosed in my prior application, in that I do away, as above indicated, with the cup or casing which holds the igniting material and simply insert a rod, bar, or cake of the igniting material into the depressed groove in the matchbox.

For a full and clear understanding of my improvement, such as will'enable those skilled in the art to construct and'use the same, reference is now had to the drawings in detail, in which--- A represents a bar constructed of igniting material, such as is used for the purpose of igniting safety-matches. In the construction of this bar I have ordinarily used the liquid igniting material for safety-matches, such as is found upon the market and is used by all large manufacturers of safety-matches, by painting or pasting a thin coat of the same upon the body of the box. I have heretofore taken this material and evaporated or boiled the liquid until it assumed'a thick or pasty mass of the desired nature. Then by pressure I formed it into bars orcakes,.like that disclosed in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and afterward subjected it to a drying process, either in the open air or by heat from a stove, or I have taken the paste-like material and subjected it to the action of a rectangularshaped die, so as to form the bar of the desired cross-section, and have cut it into such lengths as the necessities of the case might demand. The material as thus constructed in solid cake-like form is ready for use whenever needed.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated a pocket matchbox B, having a spring-actuated cover 0 of well-known form, and in one side or edge of the box a groove G is formed in such manner as to constitute an'open-sided pocket or chamber adapted to receive the bar A of igniting material, the lateral edges of the groove being sufficiently depressed to prevent the material A from coming into contact with the fingers or clothing of the user. The width of the groove G is preferably such as will just freely admit the heads of the matches now found in commercial use, so that they will come into contact with the igniting material when drawn thereover. This feature, in so far as the construction of the box is concerned, is not materially diiferent from that disclosed in my prior application, except that in that case the bottom of the groove was done away with, the bottom of the cup or casing constituting the necessary dividing-partition betion between the material A and the interior of the box B, where the matches are located.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

A solid bar, rod or cake of igniting material for igniting safety-matches; in combination with a matchbox-having a groove or depression for receiving the same, the lateral edges of said groove being so disposed as to prevent the igniting material, when in position, from coming into contact with the fingers or clothing of the user, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FERDINAND A. WA'lTENBERG.

Witnesses:

G. J. KINTNER, M. F. KEATING. 

